Virtual Reality in the Assessment and Treatment of Weight-Related Disorders

Abstract

This chapter outlines the potential of virtual reality (VR) in the study of weight-related disorders. This approach is currently used for the assessment of body image distortions, emotional responses and social comparison skills in clinical and subclinical subjects. VR is used to improve the knowledge about the body image concept. VR can be used to evaluate the emotional responses produced by food exposure. In fact, real food and VR food produce comparable emotional reactions–anxiety, food craving, impulse to over-eat, and guilt feelings in ED patients and this reaction was stronger than the one produced by photographs of food. It is also possible to use the potential of virtual reality (VR) to elicit social comparison tendencies induced by subjects with different weight and body sizes. The available studies suggest that more negative stereotyping and less visual contact are produced by the interaction with overweight/obese subjects. In conclusion, VR is a powerful tool for studying, assessing and treating weight related disorders. Nevertheless, future research and clinical practice are still required for transforming virtual reality in a real tool for researchers and clinicians. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)